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Suspect in shooting outside hospital dies

An employee of MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center was shot at a bus stop outside the hospital.

Suspect in shooting outside hospital dies

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Updated: 6:54 AM EDT May 20, 2016

ROSSVILLE, Md. —

The man charged in a shooting outside MedStar Franklin Square Hospital has died.

Erwin Acree, 29, died Wednesday at Shock Trauma from injuries he sustained when he shot himself in a barricade situation, police said.

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Baltimore County police had charged Acree in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend outside MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center late Tuesday night.

Police said the woman was shot multiple times in the upper body around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday near the hospital's emergency department on Franklin Square Drive.

"Our preliminary investigation indicates this woman was at the area of the bus stop when the suspect approached her, shot her several times and then fled the scene," Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. John Wachter said.

Hospital officials said word quickly got out that an employee had been shot not far from the emergency department.

"There was a call made to our ED charge nurse that said there was an individual who they believe was shot out at our south garden entrance," said Larry Strassner, senior vice president of operations and chief nursing officer.

A team from the emergency department, along with Baltimore County EMS, rushed to help the woman, and not knowing if there was an active shooter situation, the hospital went on lockdown. The lockdown lasted for about an hour, officials said.

"It's fascinating to watch the level of care and how people work so efficiently. The teamwork is there and the after-effect is much more emotional because it is one of their own," Strassner said.

Crews got the victim to the emergency department. They stabilized her and sent her to Shock Trauma.

"They certainly saw that she had a number of what looked like gunshot wounds, and that's not something we deal with every day. We're not a trauma center, but they did the right thing and went through ABCs of what they needed to do and quickly got her resuscitated," said Dr. Johnathan Hansen, chair of emergency medicine.

Hospital officials identified the woman only as an environmental services employee. Police also wanted to quickly calm the public, believing that the attack was not random but that the shooter targeted the victim.

"If she wasn't as close and we weren't able to get immediate care to her, blood, plasma, have a medic here, because that's key, the outcome may have been different," Hansen said.

Baltimore County police officers tracked Acree Wednesday afternoon to a west Baltimore apartment complex, even though court records from a child custody case listed a different address nearby.

Police went to an address in the unit block of North Woodington in Baltimore City, but Acree refused to come out, police said.

Rick Jones, who lives across the street, described what he saw.

"Just the two police on their knees with rifles, that was it. He told me to go back in the house, and so that's what I did, went back in the house," Jones said.

Police said Acree refused to come outside, and police said he shot himself hours later. He was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died.

Police have yet to identify the victim, and detectives have yet to interview her because of her condition. A motive for the shooting remains unclear.

The incident remains under investigation by the Baltimore County Police Violent Crimes Unit.